Thunderstorm

• Demi Bean, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2017

Rain droplets plummet down, drenching the bushland and vehicles below. Just an ordinary winter's night in New Jersey. Elena Dolan sighs worryingly, as the raging, cloud infested sky darkens with a blink of her eyes. The timeworn concrete road snakes its way over the wild bushland, scarcely visible through the obscurity of the night. "Please keep me safe Lil."
It's been seven years since Lily, Elena's older sister, was regrettably murdered while driving home from college with her friends, during a brutal storm. They were intoxicated from a massive end of year party. Distracted Lily, tried her best to watch the slippery road, like a hawk stalking its prey, but it was no use. She swerved through the guard rails and down a steep cliff. Everyone survived everyone apart from Lily.
Out of nowhere, the engine shuts off, deserting Elena in the centre of the road, vehicles no longer visible. "Of course!" she blurts out, desperately attempting to restart the engine, but it's no use. The red arrow behind the steering wheel, points directly at empty. She races out into the freezing air, the rain feels like murderous icicles stabbing at her skin. The hairs on the back of her neck rise into razor sharp needles.
Using all the force from her slender figure, she manages to roll the car to the side of the road, slipping, and collapsing onto the rough road. "Damn it!" Excruciating pain zaps through her body. She slowly peers down at her leg, hot blood pours from a deep gash in her thigh. The scarlet fluid trickles onto the jet-black concrete, seeping into its damp surface.
"Gotta get in the car, gotta get in the car." She tells herself as she urgently crawls towards the door. Elena hurtles herself onto the driver's seat, attempting to be gentle on her limp leg. "Phone, phone, phone, come on!" she tears her duffel bad open, searching for her only hope to escape this nightmare.
The feeling of a smooth screen slides into her grasp. "Thank God." She laughs as relief washes through her veins. She lays back on the seat and presses the power button. Nothing happens. She tries again. The blank screen still refuses to light up.
Elena bursts into a fountain of tears. "Please, please just turn on." She violently jabs the button. Over and over again, eventually giving up by pelting it across the car. Glass from both the screen and the window showers into her long blond hair as she slouches down crying. Burning blood pumps out from her artery, making her frailer by the second. It's dark and spine-shiveringly freezing. Elena's heart pounds out from her chest, clatters across her ribcage, begging to slow down, but the anxiety refuses to have mercy. She lies back in her seat, locks her eyes tightly closed like a vault of glorious treasures, and listens carefully to the furious world outside. The fuming clouds shoot rocketing bolts of lightning at the otherwise inaudible Earth below them. Ear-splitting booms and cracks jolt across the swirling, churning sky, deafening everything in its wrath.
A bright light bums its way through her eye lids. She gradually blinks them open, only to reveal a colossal tree of flames flying towards her. The blaze twinkles in her drooping amber eyes. "See you soon sis." She smiles, losing all consciousness. Darkness washes over her.
"Miss?" The sound of sirens sluggishly floods into her ears.
“Miss can you hear me?" Elena jolts awake. A blurry figure stands before her, slowly coming into focus. A lady in navy blue gazes at her.
"Where the heck am I?" "Get me "Calm down out of here!" she bellows. “Calm down, you're going to be okay”